Antenna mounting member



Feb. 7, 1967 N. KRIADIS ETAL 3,302,916

ANTENNA MOUNTING MEMBER Filed Dec. 11, 1964 United States Patent 3,302,916 ANTENNA MOUNTING MEMBER Nickolas Kriadis and Thomas J. Wright, both of Itasca, Ill.,"assignors to Bel-Tronics Corporation, Addison, Ill.,

a corporation of Illinois I Filed Dec. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 417,620 Claims. (Cl. 248-314) The present invention'relates to an antenna mounting member, and more particularly, tosuch a mounting member which secures and protects an antenna both during the manufacture of the antenna and also after the antenna is mounted for use as on a radio chassis. The present invention further provides a means for readily securing the antenna to the radio chassis.

The present invention is related to 'the copending application of Thomas J. Wright, Serial No. 384,374, for an Antenna Mounting Member. 'The antenna mounting member disclosed in application S.N. 384,374 is arranged principally for use with printed circuit wiring and the associated printed circuit or panel boards. In turn, the antenna mounting member of this application is arranged to \be mounted on hand wired radio chassis in which the components are generally spaced a relatively large distance from one another.

Presently known antennas used in radios, comprise wire coils helically wound upon elongated or rod shaped cores, usually of ferrite, which cores are generally quite fragile. The antennas are secured in various manners to the radio chassis on which are mounted the other electronic components and circuits of the radio. 1

As mentioned abovathe ferritecores are quite fragile, and in the process of making and using ferrite core antennas it has'been'found that there has heretofore been sub.- stantialloss due to core breakage, and puncture or fracture of the wax coatingwhich normally covers the coil, fracture or fraying'of'the wire coil, and detuning of the coil due to the unintentional shifting of the coil wire on the core.

The present invention provides a protective mounting member which is arranged to receive a ferrite core antenna to permit mounting of the antenna onto a hand wire radio chassis and to permit making the necessary electrical connections from the antenna to the associated circuitry.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the mounting member is substantially C-shaped at its top or antenna receiving portion and has a base plate which is mountable on the radio chassis. Terminal pins or lugs are formed on the base plate for connecting to the antenna coils. The C-shaped upper end of the mounting is sufiiciently resilient to permit flexing so that an antenna may be inserted therein, but it is sufiiciently rigid to hold the antenna in position once it is inserted therein.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved mounting member for supporting and mounting a core antenna.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved mounting member for supporting and mounting a core antenna on a hand wired chassis.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mounting member for an antenna according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an antenna of the type which is mountable in the mounting member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the mounting member of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of another modifica-' tion of the mounting member of FIG. 1.

Refer now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1 which.

be supported in mounting member 10 are not, per se, part of the invention, such an antenna 15 is sketched in FIG. 2 for purposes of providing a clearer description of the mounting member 10. Ferrite core antennas 15 may be helically wound with suitable gauge wire as .two distinct helices or coils 17 and 18. Coils 17 and 18 have a selected.

number of turns and are wound in a single layer upon an elongated core 19 of sintered ferrite; and the core and coil.

are coated with wax during or after winding. One of the helicesf18 frequently extends along the length of the core' 19, While the other helix 17 extends only part way along the core to'thus provide selective coupling between the coils.

After the coils 1' 7 and 18 are Wound on the core 19.it is desirable that these antennas 15, which asmentioned above are quite fragile, be placed or inserted in the holder or housing 11 ofthe mounting member 10 for further processing, handling and for ultimate. mounting on; the associated radio chassis. The housing 11 is approximately C-shaped in cross section and is formed with an upper (as oriented in FIG. 1) arcuate portion 21, a bight portion 22, and a lower arcuate portion 23, see also FIGS. 3 and 4. The lower portion 23 of the C-shaped housing 11 is joined integrally to a depending web 24, which web extends along the entire length of the lowerportion 23.

The C-shape of housing 11 comprises, in cross section, substantially three-quarters of a roughly circular envelope with the interior surface 25 of the housing forming'an envelopeapproximately the same dimension as the diameter of the antenna 15 to be mounted in housing 11.

The upper arcuate portion 21 of the C-shaped housing 11 has suflicient flexibility to permit it to be fiexed open to receive the antenna to be mounted in the housing 11. The opening of the C-shaped housing 11, that is, the spacing between the tip of the upper and lower portions 21 and 23 is arranged to be less than the diameter of the antenna 15 to be received in the housing 11, so that when the arcuate portion 21 refluxes or returns to its initial position the antenna 15 will be held securely within the housing. The housing 11 is of sufficient rigidity to support and frictionally retain the antenna in position in the housing.

Base plate 12, which may be of a heavy electrical grade cardboard, of suitable plastic, or of other suitable non-conductive material sufiiciently rigid to support the housing 11 and the included antenna 15 is aflixed by staples or brackets 27 to web 24. The upper part 12A of plate 12 extends along the length of the tab 24. The lower part 12B of plate 12 may be of the same dimension as the upper part, or it may be notched, as indicated by the dot-ted lines 20, at each of the ends of the lower part 123 to define a reduced lower center part 12C on the base plate. Such a reduced part 12C may be required due to space limitations on the radio chassis to thus permit the base plate 12 to be more conveniently aflixed to the chassis.

Projecting clips of any suitable known type, are fastened as by stapling into sides of the base plate 12 to provide electrical terminals 32 to which ends of the wires forming coils 17 and 18 may be selectively connected, see also FIG. 2.

The plastic material from which the housing 11 is made is conveniently formed in relatively long lengths. These Patented Feb. 7, 1967 long lengths of material may be easily cut off as desired into shorter lengths. For example, certain antennas are only two or three inches long and, accordingly, material having a length of ten feet will supply three to five dozen housings 11-.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a second modification of the invention is shown, wherein the tab 24 is abutted with the base plate 12 and afiixed, as by gluing, such as with an epoxy glue 30. In this embodiment it is convenient to form the base plate 12 to be in the same relative plane as the web 24; although it will be understood that a part of the plate could also be superimposed on the tab 24 and aflixed thereto. The embodiment of FIG. 3 is otherwise similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1.

' A' third embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 wherein the base plate 12 is formed integrally with and is of the same material as the housing 11. Other than the tforegoing, the embodiment of FIG. 4 is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 3.

In both FIGS. 3 and 4 an antenna 15 is indicated as being positioned in the housing 11.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A member for receiving and providing a protective cover for an antenna which antenna comprises coils wound on a rod shaped core and for mounting the antenna on an associated electronic chassis, said member comprising in combination,

(a) an elongated housing for receiving the antenna, said housing being substantially as long as the overall length of the antenna to be mounted therein;

. (b) said housing being C-shaped in cross section and forming an envelope for the antenna to be received therein whereby said housing surrounds the major portion of the antenna and provides a protective mounting and cover for the antenna, and the two tips of said C-shaped housing being spaced apart to form an opening therebetween;

(c) said housing being flexibly openable from an initial position to an enlarged opened position to receive the antenna in said housing;

(d) said housing being closable by reflex action to its initial position to securely retain the antenna and cover a major portion thereof; and

(e) a relatively rigid base plate extending from said housing for providing a means for mounting said member onto the electronic chassis.

2. A mounting member as in claim 1 wherein,

(a) said base plate is aflixed along one tip portion of said C-shaped housing and tends to stiffen said tip portion and said entire housing; and wherein,

(b) said other tip portion is relatively more flexible and deflectable than said first tip portion to permit said antenna to be inserted in said housing and securely retained therein.

3. A mounting member as in claim 1 further including,

(a) said base plate being arranged to extend along the length of said housing and being affixed thereto; and

(b) said base plate extending outwardly from adjacent one of said tip portions of the C-shaped housing for mounting onto a radio chassis.

4. A mounting member as in claim 3 further including,

(a) a depending tab section fastened on said housing;

and

(b) said base plate being aflixed to said tab section.

5. A mounting member as in claim 3 wherein said plate is attached to said housing to position said housing such that the opening between said tip portions extends along a side of the mounting member to thereby provide maximum protection to the antenna while permitting easy access thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MEMBER FOR RECEIVING AND PROVIDING A PROTECTIVE COVER FOR AN ANTENNA WHICH ANTENNA COMPRISES COILS WOUND ON A ROD SHAPED CORE AND FOR MOUNTING THE ANTENNA ON AN ASSOCIATED ELECTRONIC CHASSIS, SAID MEMBER COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, (A) AN ELONGATED HOUSING FOR RECEIVING THE ANTENNA, SAID HOUSING BEING SUBSTANTIALLY AS LONG AS THE OVERALL LENGTH OF THE ANTENNA TO BE MOUNTED THEREIN; (B) SAID HOUSING BEING C-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION AND FORMING AN ENVELOPE FOR THE ANTENNA TO BE RECEIVED THEREIN WHEREBY SAID HOUSING SURROUNDS THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE ANTENNA AND PROVIDES A PROTECTIVE MOUNTING AND COVER FOR THE ANTENNA, AND THE TWO TIPS OF SAID C-SHAPED HOUSING BEING SPACED APART TO FORM AN OPENING THEREBETWEEN; (C) SAID HOUSING BEING FLEXIBLY OPENABLE FROM AN INITIAL POSITION TO AN ENLARGED OPENED POSITION TO RECEIVE THE ANTENNA IN SAID HOUSING; (D) SAID HOUSING BEING CLOSABLE BY REFLEX ACTION TO ITS INITIAL POSITION TO SECURELY RETAIN THE ANTANNA AND COVER A MAJOR PORTION THEREOF; AND (E) A RELATIVELY RIGID BASE PLATE EXTENDING FROM SAID HOUSING FOR PROVIDING A MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID MEMBER ONTO THE ELECTRONIC CHASSIS. 